Canada at 150: Citizen movement may define the party in the West

Rick Thomas of Calgary-based imagiNation 150 at the Peace Bridge near downtown Calgary. There will be the usual government initiatives to mark Canada's 150th birthday such as ribbon-cuttings, concerts and fireworks displays, but they’re not enough, he says.Photo by
Mike Ridewood for Postmedia News

VANCOUVER – The Western provinces were not originally part of Confederation in 1867, yet there is no shortage of enthusiasm or ideas about how the West can put its stamp on Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations in 2017.

Ideas so far range from citizen-engagement initiatives and get-to-know-your-neighbour exercises to local and regional projects that pay tribute to the past, as well as efforts to preserve and promote aboriginal heritage and culture.

In Calgary, community leaders have banded together to create a nationwide “citizen’s movement” centred on the idea of “Canadians giving gifts to Canada.”

Organizers say the possibilities are endless. Maybe a group of residents will decide they want to restore a historical site in their neighbourhood. Industry leaders could come together to brainstorm a national energy policy. Perhaps educators could develop an interprovincial student-exchange program.

Sure, there will be the usual government initiatives, ribbon-cuttings, concerts and fireworks displays, but they’re not enough, says Rick Thomas, a board member of the Calgary-based imagiNation 150 initiative.

“It’s a great time to reflect on where we’ve come so far and where we need to go to make this an even better country and you can’t do that without citizenship engagement,” he said.

“We’re not going to wait for government to do this. There is a de facto Alberta, Calgary, maverick-kind of thing behind this.”

The i150.ca website has even posted a handbook to give community leaders across the country a template for how to attract volunteers and turn those goals into reality.

“The tone of this is less regionality and more Canada,” Thomas said. “I’m less worried about what Alberta will do or Calgary and more concerned about how we can get Canadians connecting with Canadians.”

As much as Canada’s 150th birthday should be about building a stronger nation, it’s also got to include a nod to the past, says Robynne Rogers Healey, a history professor at Trinity Western University in British Columbia.

“There is a real opportunity in 2017 to tell a story that’s not just centrist, that actually includes regions outside of the centre,” she said.

Healey said the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010 saw an honest effort to portray the different First Nations – there was more than just feather-in-a-headdress symbolism, she said – and she’d like that to continue in 2017.

“How about Chinese-Canadians or Japanese-Canadians who are so critically important to the story of Western Canada?” she continued. “How do they want their story told that goes beyond internment or just the story of the railroads?”

It doesn’t all have to be about large-scale productions either, she said. Local museums and local historic associations all play a role in telling the narrative of Canada and should not be overlooked.

One example of such a local initiative can be found in Winnipeg where a heritage park and interpretive centre are being built on the old Upper Fort Garry site.

Beginning in the mid-1830s, the site near the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers served as the headquarters for the Hudson’s Bay Company, the hub of inland fur trade and as the administrative centre of the Red River settlement.

“We talk about Toronto being the centre of the universe. In those years Upper Fort Garry was the centre of the universe,” said Jerry Gray, chair of the Friends of the Upper Fort Garry, which is spearheading the project.

Later, the site was the location where Metis leader Louis Riel formed a provisional government, which led to Manitoba entering Confederation in 1870.

“We’re going to give people a chance to look at things and ask questions as to why – not tell them how history was, but here’s what happened and you interpret what the effect was 100 years later,” Gray said.

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